EitC Welcomes Famous Statue Ahead Of Knife Awareness Week

Everton Football Club and its official charity Everton in the Community will be hosting a week of knife crime awareness in the lead-up to Christmas after helping bring the Knife Angel to the city of Liverpool.

The famous Knife Angel was brought to Liverpool at the end of November thanks to a collaborative effort from The Regenda Group, Merseyside Police, Everton in the Community (EitC), Royal Liverpool and Liverpool Cathedral – all in the hope of highlighting the impact of knife crime.

EitC has been working on the ‘Real Men Don’t Carry Knives’ campaign in the last year to raise awareness around knife crime and its consequences, among a number of other initiatives.

The 27ft tall sculpture of an angel, which was made out of more than 100,000 handed-in knifes, now sits outside the Anglican Cathedral near the city centre to remind passers-by of the dangers of knife crime in the local community.

The Knife Angel was built by the British Iron Works Museum, located in Oswestry, Shropshire. A total of 100,000 blunted blades were collected from 43 different police forces in the UK. Artist and sculptor, Alfie Bradley, made the five-and-half-tonne angel over a period of two years.

Families of victims of knife crime have also inscribed names of their loved ones which have been added to the piece of art.

Richard Kenyon, Everton in the Community CEO, said: “We’re pleased to see the arrival of the Knife Angel in Liverpool and to have played a part in its journey to our city. The statue will help raise awareness about the importance of lowering knife crime.

“We have been working on the ‘Real Men Don’t Carry Knives’ campaign for over a year with great support from Anfield Boxing Club, LFC Foundation and Joanne Matthews from Liverpool City Council and run regular workshops, football festivals and awareness days to help tackle knife crime across Liverpool. The arrival of the statue is another step in the right direction to combatting these crimes and I would urge everyone to go to Liverpool Cathedral to see what is a really powerful piece of artwork.”

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